Lerner, DoJ discussed criminal prosecution of tax-exempt applicants

posted at 10:41 am on April 16, 2014 by Ed Morrissey

A FOIA request from Judicial Watch has uncovered e-mails from Lois Lerner that discussed an effort to push criminal prosecution of tax-exempt status applicants — and right before IRS targeting of conservative groups became public knowledge. The e-mail, dated May 8, 2013, shows coordination between Lerner and the DoJ to follow up on the idea first broached by Democratic Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI):

I got a call today from Richard Pilger Director Elections Crimes Branch at DOJ, I know him from contacts from my days there. He wanted to know who at IRS the DOJ folk s [sic] could talk to about Sen. Whitehouse idea at the hearing that DOJ could piece together false statement cases about applicants who “lied” on their 1024s –saying they weren’t planning on doing political activity, and then turning around and making large visible political expenditures. DOJ is feeling like it needs to respond, but want to talk to the right folks at IRS to see whether there are impediments from our side and what, if any damage this might do to IRS programs.

Lois Lerner, who heads the IRS unit that oversees tax-exempt groups, said organizations that included the words “tea party” or “patriot” in their applications for tax-exempt status were singled out for additional reviews.

Lerner said the practice, initiated by low-level workers in Cincinnati, was wrong and she apologized while speaking at a conference in Washington.

The apology came as the Inspector General for Treasury was about to release a report that would have made the issue public anyway. Later, we found that the IRS had deliberately staged the apology in an attempt to spin it. This e-mail confirms that the apology was slightly less than sincere.

Judicial Watch issued the following statement:

“These new emails show that the day before she broke the news of the IRS scandal, Lois Lerner was talking to a top Obama Justice Department official about whether the DOJ could prosecute the very same organizations that the IRS had already improperly targeted,” said Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton. “The IRS emails show Eric Holder’s Department of Justice is now implicated and conflicted in the IRS scandal. No wonder we had to sue in federal court to get these documents.”

There is one caveat to this, which is that Lerner never mentions who specifically should be prosecuted for lying on the forms. This could apply equally to Occupy Wall Street groups as well as Tea Party groups … if the IRS was investigating them both equally. Even Lerner admitted two days later that she wasn’t investigating them equally, though, and the pattern uncovered later made that painfully obvious. The intent here seems clear — to use the Department of Justice as a weapon against political opponents, as if the IRS couldn’t make life miserable enough for people on its own.

Perhaps the House committees investigating Lerner need to start issuing subpoenas to Justice personnel to determine just how Lerner proposed moving forward on criminal prosecutions, and who she may have suggested as targets. They could start with Nikole Flax, Nancy Marks, Joseph Grant, and Jennifer Vonze, and see where the investigation goes from there.

Update: Judicial Watch e-mailed me to point out that the e-mail actually recounts a phone call that attempted to coordinate criminal prosecution. I have edited the headline and the lead paragraph. (A couple of times, by 11:25 am ET.)

“These new emails show that the day before she broke the news of the IRS scandal, Lois Lerner was talking to a top Obama Justice Department official about whether the DOJ could prosecute the very same organizations that the IRS had already improperly targeted,” said Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton. “The IRS emails show Eric Holder’s Department of Justice is now implicated and conflicted in the IRS scandal. No wonder we had to sue in federal court to get these documents.”

And, still, none of these America-hating criminals are in jail … or even standing trial. It’s not as if this sort of thing hasn’t been going on for over 5 years, already. Heck, none of these people were even impeached or forced out of their positions. Sheesh.

Yeah, I’ll tell you what….
..I can remember the good ol days, when a Special Prosecutor
named Patrick Fitzgerald spend 22 MONTHS investigating
if a man had uttered a woman’s name…..(even though it
had already been mentioned)

There is one caveat to this, which is that Lerner never mentions who specifically should be prosecuted for lying on the forms. This could apply equally to Occupy Wall Street groups as well as Tea Party groups … if the IRS was investigating them both equally.

Exactly. We know for a fact that the IRS was only targeting conservative groups. So that defense ain’t gonna fly. It’s no wonder the Democrat/media complex is circling the wagons. They’ve known all along that Lerner was taking her marching orders from Democrats in Congress and that Holder and the DOJ were in on it as well. I guess their thinking all along has been that this would either never be revealed to the public or if it was the drive-bys would bury the story while Holder would refuse to prosecute anyone involved.

“These new emails show that the day before she broke the news of the IRS scandal, Lois Lerner was talking to a top Obama Justice Department official about whether the DOJ could prosecute the very same organizations that the IRS had already improperly targeted,” said Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton. “The IRS emails show Eric Holder’s Department of Justice is now implicated and conflicted in the IRS scandal. No wonder we had to sue in federal court to get these documents.”

Lois Lerner and Elijah Cummings both need to be in prison, neither though will ever be held accountable, at worst, they will receive a pardon from Obama.

oscarwilde on April 16, 2014 at 10:51 AM

Fine. But at least we need to force Obama’s hand. If he wants to pardon all the guilty parties and broadcast to the nation that he’s covering this up(while all but admitting his own guilt), let him. At least then we can dispense with the absurd talking point that there’s no scandal or smidgen of corruption.

He wanted to know who at IRS the DOJ folk s [sic] could talk to about Sen. Whitehouse idea at the hearing that DOJ could piece together false statement cases about applicants who “lied” on their 1024s –saying they weren’t planning on doing political activity, and then turning around and making large visible political expenditures.

‘Piece together’ cases for ‘lying’?

We don’t have to piece together a case for lying for Lerner.

Interestingly when coupled with Bloomberg…

0.1%: Percentage of the 71,000 people, who lied on their background checks in 2009 and were prosecuted by the Obama administration.

More than 45%: The decrease in the number of gun prosecutions by the Obama administration compared to the Bush administration.

“A Republican congressman has introduced a bill that would stop government paychecks for officials who have been found in contempt of Congress — a move that seems designed in the short term to go after Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr.

Mr. Holder has refused to cooperate with House Republicans’ probe into the Fast & Furious gun-walking operation, and the House has voted to find him in contempt. Mr. Holder is challenging that vote in court.

Rep. Blake Farenthold, a Texas Republican who publicly excoriated Mr. Holder at a hearing last week, introduced the legislation just before Congress went on vacation, and announced it Tuesday.

“The American people should not be footing the bill for federal employees who stonewall Congress or rewarding government officials’ bad behavior,” Mr. Farenthold said….

Denying salaries for executive branch officials deemed in violation of congressional wishes is not new. For decades, Congress refused to pay salaries to officials who had been installed by recess appointments — a tool the president can use as an end-run around the Senate’s constitutional powers to confirm or reject nominees the White House sends over….”

The evidence is mounting and it’s becoming increasingly undeniable that this goes very, very, very far up and expands to many different depts. , officials, and Dem. congress skum.

Sadly even with absolute proof; fingerprints, video/audio evidence, and even a public confession of wrongdoing will not result in any forced resignations, criminal prosecutions, or impeachments.
The fifth column will spin, the ignorant and uninformed will remain ignorant and uninformed, and the criminal syndicate known as the Regime Zero will continue their crimes unabated.

Boring. No seriously, it is. Republicans are not serious about getting to the bottom of this, as many others note.

However, I doubt anything is a real crime. Selectively using scrutiny when it comes to bureaucracy is widely understood to be a ‘thing’. Cops, lawyers, judges, EPA admins, BLM admins, and so on use judgement when making decisions.

Democrats in bureaucracy using the power they have to hinder political opponents is nothing new. This is why it is important to capture those positions.

Republicans are unmotivated to go after this seriously because they believe there to be no real crime, just political sleaze. They benefit much more by having the scandal play out in the public rather than court. The media calls the Republicans political for pursuing this and will up that charge with any more serious investigation, so really there is a net wash here.

There is one caveat to this, which is that Lerner never mentions who specifically should be prosecuted for lying on the forms. This could apply equally to Occupy Wall Street groups as well as Tea Party groups … if the IRS was investigating them both equally.

Yes, I’m sure that Sen. Whitehouse was hounding Lerner to press OWS.

I’m beginning to think that the House investigations will go nowhere unless the DOJ can be conflicted out so that a special prosecutor will have to be appointed. In the alternative, I wonder whether the best shot at blowing this scandal wide open may be the private suit or suits that Jay Sekulow and the Foley & Larder lawyer (Cleta ?) are pursuing on behalf of some conservative taxpayers. If they can push through the district court in DC, they might get a judge there to say “enough is enough,” and turn the IRS upside down for information.

There is one caveat to this, which is that Lerner never mentions who specifically should be prosecuted for lying on the forms. This could apply equally to Occupy Wall Street groups as well as Tea Party groups … if the IRS was investigating them both equally.

If the LSM is going to report their spin du jour, there’s no need to assist them.
The LSM knows McCarthyism is so last month and racism is so last week.
Word on the street is the LSM will compare Issa to Cotton Mather this week – because single woman (Julia’s or Juli-i) love stories about witches according to OFA’s focus group results.

Republicans are unmotivated to go after this seriously because they believe there to be no real crime, just political sleaze. They benefit much more by having the scandal play out in the public rather than court.

antisense on April 16, 2014 at 11:31 AM

The GOP isn’t upset about it because 1) they want to be able to use the IRS against the Democrats when they, if they, ever get control again; and 2) they enjoy letting the Democrats do their dirty work, i.e., destroying the Tea Party, for them.

1 “The IRS scandal is an outrage and we shall get to the bottom of this. You have my word on this”.
2 (Behind the scenes) Stall, shuffle personnel, incinerate vital documents.
3 (a year after successful delaying tactics.). “What scandal? There is no ‘here’ here and, besides, its “old” news.
4 ‘Why is this ‘witch hunt’ continuing? This ‘smear’ could only be perpetuated by vengeful people with a political agenda–distracting my Administration from saving humanity from pollution, racial inequity and global warming.”

The GOP isn’t upset about it because 1) they want to be able to use the IRS against the Democrats when they, if they, ever get control again; and 2) they enjoy letting the Democrats do their dirty work, i.e., destroying the Tea Party, for them.

Ron Paul’s nonprofit Campaign for Liberty will fight the Internal Revenue Service’s demand that it reveal its donor list to the agency, despite having already been fined for refusing to do so.

“There is no legitimate reason for the IRS to know who donates to Campaign for Liberty,” Megan Stiles, the communications director at Campaign for Liberty, told the Washington Examiner in an email on Tuesday. “We believe the First Amendment is on our side as evidenced by cases such as NAACP v. Alabama and International Union UAW v. National Right to Work. Many 501(c)(4) organizations protect the privacy of their donors in the very same way as Campaign for Liberty. For some reason the IRS has now chosen to single out Campaign for Liberty for special attention. We plan to fight this all the way.”

The GOP isn’t upset about it because 1) they want to be able to use the IRS against the Democrats when they, if they, ever get control again; and 2) they enjoy letting the Democrats do their dirty work, i.e., destroying the Tea Party, for them.

The GOP isn’t upset about it because 1) they want to be able to use the IRS against the Democrats when they, if they, ever get control again; and 2) they enjoy letting the Democrats do their dirty work, i.e., destroying the Tea Party, for them.

Resist We Much on April 16, 2014 at 11:37 AM

2 is spot on.

1 isn’t really an option for the GOP. They haven’t infested the bureaucracy like the left has.

The GOP isn’t upset about it because 1) they want to be able to use the IRS against the Democrats when they, if they, ever get control again; and 2) they enjoy letting the Democrats do their dirty work, i.e., destroying the Tea Party, for them.

Sadly even with absolute proof; fingerprints, video/audio evidence, and even a public confession of wrongdoing will not result in any forced resignations, criminal prosecutions, or impeachments.
The fifth column will spin, the ignorant and uninformed will remain ignorant and uninformed, and the criminal syndicate known as the Regime Zero will continue their crimes unabated.

StubbornGreenBurros on April 16, 2014 at 11:12 AM

True, but you don’t need public knowledge/awareness to prosecute criminals. You need evidence and standing.

Let me see if I have this straight? Our Community Organizer in Chief is now against community organizing?

Tater Salad on April 16, 2014 at 11:58 AM

Only when the enemy does it. His tax exempt campaign organization is totally legit.

Seriously though, criminal prosecutions? Once again these creeps are even more evil than I had imagined.

This is getting extremely serious. Almost half the country is under coordinated full-blown illegal attack by the executive branch with the active participation of the media. I don’t see this ending well under any scenario.

The GOP isn’t upset about it because 1) they want to be able to use the IRS against the Democrats when they, if they, ever get control again; and 2) they enjoy letting the Democrats do their dirty work, i.e., destroying the Tea Party, for them.

Resist We Much on April 16, 2014 at 11:37 AM

The latter I agree with, but I can’t imagine the current crop of moderates using the IRS against Democrats. Although I can imagine them letting the bureaucrats do what the bureaucrats do, unfettered. And if, by some miracle, Cruz or Paul get in there I doubt they would use the IRS either (but for different reasons).

He wanted to know who at IRS the DOJ folk s [sic] could talk to about Sen. Whitehouse idea at the hearing that DOJ could piece together false statement cases about applicants who “lied” on their 1024s –saying they weren’t planning on doing political activity, and then turning around and making large visible political expenditures.

And yet free speech is protected and political speech especially so.

Now consider that the government has no business asking about what your group’s intent actually is… until you think it should be regulated. Why are certain groups given tax breaks based on the kind of speech they engage in? Why do we have rules and regulations about political speech? Aren’t we all supposed to be taxed equally? No provision of any Amendment allows differential taxation based on anything: not on speech, not on how much you make, and not on the color of your skin.

When government is given the oversight of speech, then abuse of that power is the result.

All the complaining about ‘money in politics’ is an effort to stifle free speech by giving government the power to regulate it. Really there needs to be some cases that point this out: that Congress does not have the power to pass such laws. This isn’t even about the apocryphal yelling of ‘FIRE’ in a crowded theater… which would be something done at a local level and handled under other laws… this is about protected speech, and not just regular speech but political speech and the right to petition government as individuals or in freely associated groups. Thus what the IRS is doing is violating the civil rights of individuals on multiple levels… even BEFORE they try to piecemeal cases together for a trial that is only meant to impoverish individuals and stifle free speech… their daily business is that of stifling speech via regulation and taxation.

And yet Congress does not have the power to grant them the ability to do that.

But, according to Obama, there isn’t a “smidgen” of corruption at the IRS. Looks more like a smidgen to me. Looks like a felony to me. Not that anybody in the mainstream media will look into this. Nope, nothing to see here. Just like there was not even a smidgen of corruption in the Nixon administration. I think the mainstream media has suffered a blow to its credibility that it can never recover from because of their lack of interest in this case. Shame on them for being so brazenly biased and not doing their jobs, and shame on the American people for allowing this to happen and not screaming out for more answers to this scandal.

This is the end, folks, we now live in a Banana Republic and you should all take appropriate actions for you and your family.

Who is John Galt on April 16, 2014 at 11:31 AM

What appropriate actions are there?

I’ve been wondering about this for some time now, and have been all over the map.

I’ve several times gone through the 5 stages of political grieving: Denial (slight, transient); Anger (marked, permanent); Bargaining (not really); Depression (meh, more of a nostalgic sadness); Acceptance ( sort of, if being resigned to the fact that the nation is doomed counts as acceptance).

I’ve thought about moving to Texas, thinking that they might actually rebel in some form or other. (Would my house here be likely to sell for anything near what I paid for it? No.) I’ve fantasized about moving to Belize or Costa Rica. (No better. Probably worse. Pretty, but softball sized insects don’t appeal to me.) Pull my retirement money out before the big crash? (Wife would murder me.) Take up arms? (Waiting for someone else to go first. Plus, ammo has been very hard to come by, and those prices.)
Become a survivalist? (It took a full week to fix a constantly running toilet.) Ranting invisibly on Hot Air? (Yes, pretty much about it.) (At least there is no enormous bug problem, so there’s that.)

So, any suggestions as to what options are out there for appropriate actions would be sincerely appreciated.

The not so appropriate action plan for today is to go to the range and put some precious metal down range, while visions of leftists and half-witted liberals dance in my head. Then back here to see what’s what with the world.
Ciao.

Criminal prosecution of Americans who were simply applying for tax exempt status?

No.. just turning them down wouldn’t be enough. Just making them jump through hoops or harass them… but to prosecute them? Normal every day Americans… moms and dads and others.. to prosecute them.. penalize them.. fine them and send them to jail…. just for applying for tax exempt status!

President Obama is gonna be probably the most angry person in Washington when he reads about this in the papers on Friday!
Why, I’ll bet that he tells the American people that he won’t rest until he gets to the bottom of all this, just like…
Fast & Furious
Stephanie Cutter
James Cutter
NSA
DOJ targeting journalists
NSA syping on people AND Senators
Ben…
Gha…
Ziii…

Not only did Lois Lerner lead a division that, as she admitted to the media, forced conservative groups to endure ‘inappropriate scrutiny’ regarding their tax exempt status requests, seeking to deny these groups of ‘tax exempt status’, but we now find she and Obama’s personal criminal Liberal DOJ discussed going an additional, vindictive step further to punish Obama’s personal political enemies by putting them in JAIL!

This proves a deliberate, calculated, coordinated effort to targe, silence, deny rights to, and incarcerate American citizens identified as Obama political enemies…talk about the New Gestapo, Secret Obama Administration ‘Hit Squads’! Liberals tried to say Christie had the bridge closed as ‘payback’ for opposing him – which has been proven to be false – but now we have evidence there was a deliberate effort within the Obama administration (IRS and DOJ) to punish Americans for not supporting Obama by JAILING them for daring to request tax exempt status for they had every right to have!

Lerner needs to go to Jail.
Holder, already guilty of 4 counts of Felonious Perjury, should go to jail.
Cummings ahouls immediately be not only removed from the Investigative Committee but removed from office…and JAILED for being part of this scandal!
Obama should be Impeached right now (if they can definitely conect the dots to the DOJ and the WH in discussions about this)!

Americans should then mount a massive sustained effort to get rid of the IRS, eliminating it as a future tool / threat to Americans from the same potential abuse of power in the future, replacing it with the Faid Tax or something extremelt close to it!

Knowing now that the White House, DOJ, and IRS sought to not only deny tax exempt status to conservatives but also wanted to ‘jail the opposition’, BURN IT DOWN AND PUNISH EVERYONE INVOLVED!